


hey, i lead a life of crime

by WinterSabbath



Series: dirty deeds done dirt cheap [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Angst with a Happy Ending, Assassin Loki, BAMF Loki, Canon Divergence - Iron Man 2, Killing, Loki (Marvel) Feels, M/M, POV Loki (Marvel), Tony Stark is Confused, no major character death though don't worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-28 11:31:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20063326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterSabbath/pseuds/WinterSabbath
Summary: Loki finally tells Tony he was paid to kill him. (sequel to ‘got my gun at the ready, gonna fire at will’)





	hey, i lead a life of crime

Tony was manning a particle accelerator and directing it towards the center of the room. It was supposed to create a new element that would hopefully save Tony’s life and... Loki was happy for him, he really was, but it all the more meant that he had to tell Tony the truth.

They’ve already gone on three dates. The first had been the night after Tony’s birthday party fiasco. They went to a bar and there had been a guy that tried to poison his drink. Loki killed him in the back of an alley, of course. 

The next date was more... romantic. Tony hauled Loki to the cinema and sat him down, forcing him to watch some silly romcom. Loki couldn’t really focus on the movie. He was on high alert, looking around to see if anyone had a gun out or would dare approach his date.

He was protective like that.

Thankfully, no attempts on Tony’s life were made that day. It would’ve been very unfortunate for the killers.

The third date was when Loki realized he truly did enjoy Tony’s company. That was also the day Loki realized he was fucked. They were at an amusement park, much to Loki’s dismay (it was an open area and prone to being sniped from afar), and Tony dragged Loki to a roller coaster and said, “I always said I’d try this coaster before I die. Didn’t know that death would come so soon” 

Loki had stared at him for a moment and he felt his heart pounding. A multitude of emotions had rushed through him at that moment. _Guilt _was a large one but also _pain_. He didn’t want Tony going around saying things like that because Loki, he realized then and there, did not want Tony Stark to die.

So, as Loki watched Tony create the element that could potentially save his life, he was relieved. He didn’t really want to lose Tony.

Which is why he was also scared. That could happen if—_when _Tony finds out Loki was hired (and tried) to kill him. Hell, Tony didn’t even know Loki’s name was Loki.

Tony was in the middle of aiming the accelerator when Loki’s phone rang. He stood up and went to the balcony to answer it, giving Tony a small and encouraging smile. Tony gave him a thumbs up and Loki tried to hide the fondness in his eyes.

“Yes?” Loki said as he stepped outside, putting his work phone to his ear. 

“_I have been trying to reach you for days! Why is Stark still alive?_” a voice screamed into his ear. Justin Hammer. Loki made a disgusted face at the thought of this man.

“Actually, I have had a change of plans. I will not be going through with the task. I shall transfer the down payment back to your account, if it makes you feel better.” Loki tried to keep his words vague so JARVIS wouldn’t pick up on it. 

“_What?_” Hammer screeched, “_You can’t just do that!_”

Loki rolled his eyes. “You will find that I can. Also, if you hire someone else for the... _job_, I will personally see to it that it cannot be accomplished. You wouldn’t want to mess with me, now would you?”

“_I’ll destroy your reputation! No one’s gonna want to hire you ever again and—_”

Loki chuckled dryly. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t a question. I am _telling_ you, you would not want to mess with me.”

He ended the call after that, knowing the message got through. Hammer could try to sabotage Loki all he wanted but there was a reason Loki was the best of the best.

Except...

When Loki glanced back at Tony he realized that his feelings had been a weakness to him. This was the first job he did not come through with and it was all because of his god damned _feelings_ and who the fuck told Tony Stark to be so intriguing and _soft_?

“Would you look at that...” Tony murmured, staring at an arc reactor as Loki came up behind him, “It worked!"

Loki peered over his shoulder, “Is that your new heart?”

“Yeah, sort of. JARVIS says it’s safe and stuff so I guess it should keep me alive now. Right, J?” Tony asked, lifting the reactor.

“Yes, sir.”

Because Loki was not very good at expressing _feelings_ much, he hummed and gave Tony a pat on the shoulder. “I am very happy for you, Anthony.”

“Thanks. I’m kinda happy for me too.”

Loki stood by and watched Tony replace his old reactor for the new one. When he was sure Tony was safe and secure and would not have a heart attack at any given moment, Loki finally spoke up.

“I need to talk to you.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? What about?”

“It is rather important,” Loki said. Then he motioned to a couch which had its upper half sliced off by the laser beam earlier, “Maybe you should sit...”

Tony gave him an odd look but slowly nodded, walking over to the couch and taking a seat. Loki did not do the same, instead opting to stand in front of Tony and pacing back and forth. After a few moments, he composed himself and stood straight, looking Tony in the eye and trying to project as much guilt and apologies he can with his eyes.

“My name is not Luke,” Loki said.

And to his surprise, Tony leaned back, unbothered. “I know.”

Loki blinked.

“You _what?_”

Tony shrugged. “I had JARVIS run a check on you the first day I invited you over. There were results on Luke Smith but they were obviously fake. Granted, they were done professionally and were actually quite good but it’s _me. _I’m a genius, I can see through that stuff. So I asked JARVIS to run a cross-reference on your profile and lo-and-behold, your real name is Loki Laufeyson. So much better than Luke Smith, not gonna lie.”

“Y—you knew,” Loki said hoarsely. At Tony’s nod, he gaped at him. “Why did you not say anything?”

“I figured you had a good reason for lying,” Tony shrugged, “I _was _going to ask on the first date but I forgot and then on the second, I figured I really liked you so I just went with it and told myself you’d tell me when you felt comfortable,” he gestured at Loki, “You have to admit I was right.”

For the first time, Loki had no idea what to say to that.

Tony didn’t seem at a loss of words though. He said, “By the way, nothing came up for Loki Laufeyson except that you studied high school in England. You pretty much fell off the grid after that."

“Do you wish to know why?”

“Can’t deny I’m curious.”

Loki grimaced and tapped his hand on his leg. He was silent for a few seconds then he sighed. “I need you to know that I no longer have any intention to harm you nor do I wish for harm to come your way. But you must know—

Tony sat up. “Hold on, what do you mean _no longer?_”

“I was hired to kill you,” Loki blurted out.

A pause. Then,

“JARVIS, engage house defenses,” Tony said quickly, standing up and backing away from Loki. His eyes were wide with fury and fear. “You’re here to kill me.”

“No, Tony, no, not anymore. I called it off. I told the person who hired me that I won’t be finishing the job. I _won’t_, I _can’t_. JARVIS heard me calling it off earlier. You can ask him. I can—”

“You only called it off _today?_” Tony choked out, taking a step back.

“But I have not tried in a while. Please, allow me to tell you everything and if you still do not wish to deal with me in the end, I will leave. It will wound me deeply because I have grown to like you very much but I will leave you to your space if need be.”

“_Leave? _The right thing to do here is to turn you over to the FBI!”

Loki stilled at that. “I do not get caught, Tony. No matter what.”

“So you’ll kill me then?”

“I will not.”

“I...” Tony floundered around then he looked back at Loki. “Let me get my suit first.”

“Whatever you need, Anthony.”

Tony flinched. “Fuck, don’t call me that.”

\--- --- --- 

Loki sat in front of Tony in his Iron Man suit. This was not really how he imagined this confession to go but Tony’s presence meant that Loki still had _some _hope, little as it may be.

“Alright, explain.”

“Can I see your face?”

“You’re in no place to make demands,” Tony said but allowed the helmet’s faceplate to be lifted anyway.

“I do not know where to start,” Loki admitted, tapping his foot on the floor and trying to avoid Tony’s unimpressed look. He should’ve seen this coming, hell, he already _did_, but nothing gave Loki more guilt than the cold look on Tony’s face that almost screamed _traitor_.

“How about with you being a murderer,” Tony said.

Loki didn’t deny that statement but instead explained, “I was first offered a job in college. It was easy work. My-boyfriend-is-cheating-on-me-and-I-want-you-to-kill-the-girl-he’s-sleeping-with kind of thing. It was meant to be a one time occurrence and I got through with the job and earned a lot of cash for it and then... and then my father kicked me out for... certain reasons, and so I needed a way to make a living. I tried dealing drugs first but the pay wasn’t enough.”

“So you went with killing?”

Loki nodded. “It was the easiest way I could think of. And I was quite good at it.” He wasn’t bragging, he merely spoke the truth. “After awhile, my reputation in this... field was formidable and I became known as Silver. I had made a lot of connections in the past ten years, and that is how Justin Hammer found me.”

“_Hammer_ hired you?” Tony sat up straight, more shocked by this revelation than he was about Loki’s job. “That son of a bitch. So why did you decide not to go through with the job?”

“I tried. Five times and—”

“So you’re not so good after all, then?”

Loki narrowed his eyes, a bit offended. “You have a lot of enemies, Tony. Almost every time I made an attempt, another assassin would be nearby and then I’d have to deal with them first and then when I looked back, you were gone.”

Tony frowned. “Why not just let them kill me? Isn’t that easier?”

“I am quite possessive and I do not like someone upstaging me,” Loki said, “Although on the sixth occasion that I was planning to kill you, something else got in the way—my feelings. It was not the first time I had gotten close with a target but it was certainly the first time I ever cared about one.”

“How do I know you aren’t going to kill me anymore?”

Loki opened his mouth, closed it, frowned, then offered, “I can kill Justin Hammer for you. No charge, of course. Just to prove my loyalty to you. Or I can kill anyone of your choosing."

“That’s not the most reassuring thing. I can kill Hammer myself if I wanted to but he’s not exactly a _bad _person. Just a pain in the ass,” Tony muttered, he looked up, “Doesn’t it bother you? The killings? You don’t even know these people you kill, don’t know why you kill them. Doesn’t it bother you?”

“People have their reasons. You have killed as well, Tony Stark.”

“Yeah, but the people I killed are bad people...”

“And yet they are still people. You do not know their motivations behind their actions, you do not know their backstories. All you know is that _you _think they are bad. The only difference between you and me is that people tell me who to kill, but you tell yourself.”

Tony was silent after that.

Loki stood up. “I like you very much and I would hate to see this relationship crumble. But I know this is plenty to take in especially since a few days ago, I was out to kill you. I will give you time to think about it and if you do not wish to see me anymore, I will understand. But if you do... call me.”

Loki slid over his business card with his alias and number on it. “Do not worry. Whether you call me or not, I will still ensure that no harm falls upon you.”

“I’m Iron Man, I don’t need protection,” Tony said stiffly.

“I do not doubt that Iron Man can hold his own. Tony Stark, however, is a different matter entirely.”

\--- --- ---

The call came on a Sunday night, two weeks after his last conversation with Tony.

“_I have no reason to trust you_,” was the first thing Tony said, _“But considering I’m still alive, I’d say that does speak for something. People would say I’m crazy but that’s what I am anyway, right? Reckless Tony. So, I still want us to keep seeing each other because, frankly, my house is lonely and I kind of miss having you around_.”

Loki did not put an effort to hide the smile on his face. “I have missed you as well.”

“_Great. I’ll see you here in five?_”

Loki looked at the window across the street, seeing his current target come out the bathroom. “I have a job to finish, I’ll see you in twenty.”

“_You mind if I ask why the job came to be?_”

“Aldrich Killian hired Sif to apprehend you. I’m just teaching a small lesson about messing with what’s mine,” Loki smiled.

“_That’s shouldn’t be as hot as it is,_” Tony mumbled.

“Twenty minutes and then I’ll be with you.”

**Author's Note:**

> How is it? If there's anything more you'd like to read, I'd love to hear it!
> 
> also if you get the ac/dc title references, i will love you forever


End file.
